Payment held till after due date, I'm I responsible?

[TheLookingGlass]

I am not sure if this is the correct forum for this.

I sent a payment in full to Lowes (GE MOney Bank) 7 days before the due date. It was applied 2 days after the due date. I was charged finance and late fees. Am I responsible for the fees?

I do not have the post marked envelop, of course. My check was converted to a debit payment so I don't have the original canceled check. I do have a carbon of the check.

I started the DV process and am still being contacted by phone. Can the O.C. ignore my request to contact my only by written coorspondence?

Is my only favorable recourse to pay the fees?

[breathing_easier]

An OC is not bound by the FDCPA so they don't have to respond to your DV request and can continue to contact you via phone as long as they are not harrassing you (calling multiple times in a day and/or at all hours).

Are they reporting you as late on your credit reports? If not, and without proof of when you sent the payment (a carbon copy of the check does nothing for you) then I would probably just suck it up and pay the late fees and finance charges so it doesn't affect your credit.

[divemedic]

Legally, they can report you as late, but with the way CRA's handle reporting, they can't report you as late on your CR for only 2 days. You have to be at least 30 days late. There is no category for "2 Days late"

[breathing_easier]

I think the OP is asking about the late fees/finance charges as opposed to how the TL is reporting (my guess is that the OC didn't report it as late, just charged the fees). However, here's a recent discussion on the reporting of accounts as 30 days late. Years ago I had a Verizon rep tell me, in response to my query as to why they reported me as 30 days late when I was only 10 days late, that "Even if you're only one day late it's the same as being 30 days late for reporting purposes."

[divemedic]

I think we would let the court decide that one.

[Methuss]

Buzz... sorry Dive and Breathing. Not correct on this one.

All credit card issuers are bound by the Fair Credit Billing Act which mandates that they must apply the credit to your account the day they recieve it. It is illegal for them to sit on a payment so that it goes past the due date.

To add to it, the address you mail your payments to is rarely the credit card company. It is usually a lock-box at a bank. The bank opens the mail and processes the checks for the credit card company then forwards the funds with an account report of how much to each account. But the credit card company is required to take the processing date at the lock box as the date to post to the account, they cannot delay posting.

Now as for when they got it, that depends. Under Check21, the conversion of your check to an ACH withdrawl requires the bank to keep a scanned copy of the digital conversion. Ask your bank for the certified copy they are required to keep. This will show the deposit history.

Unfortunately, unless you sent your payment by ExpressMail you're gonna have a hard time proving when they got it. Some States have defined in case law what is to be considered a mail delay. In Illinois it is 4 days. So in an IL State court, they will consider it delivered and in their hands 4 days after it was mailed unless there is strict proof of a different delivery date. Your own State's mileage may vary, but most have similar case law (so look it up at the law library at your local court house).

[breathing_easier]

Hey there, Methuss. Just curious as to what part you thought I (we) were wrong about. I was only saying (as you also said) that it will be difficult for the OP to prove when s/he mailed payment without official proof of mailing so it might be better to simply pay the fines/fees to avoid this going to collection or being reported as such.

One of the things I like about online payment is that I get an electronic receipt of the transaction. Not saying there can't be glitches in that system as well, but I feel more comfortable with it than snail mail.

[Methuss]

Sorry breathing, I forgot to mention in my reply. The Verizon rep was 100% wrong. They cannot list a 30 day late unless it is actually 30 days late. Anything else is false reporting. I had that battle with Countrywide and they lost.

The rest had to do with filing a dispute with the OC. Yes the OC does have to respond to disputes from consumers; although the "validation" thing is just bad terminology. Credit card issuers must follow the FCBA which also means handling disputes regarding any billed item wether it be merchandise, service, fees or interest.

[vsjhoc]

Originally Posted by Methuss

Sorry breathing, I forgot to mention in my reply. The Verizon rep was 100% wrong. They cannot list a 30 day late unless it is actually 30 days late. Anything else is false reporting. I had that battle with Countrywide and they lost.

I read on another thread that the 30 days starts on the last date of the billing cycle, NOT the bill due date. Agree?

[divemedic]

My point there is that you can't PROVE when the payment was made unless you sent it CMRR or by some other method which allows you to prove when they got it.

There was a case a few years ago where a bank (IIRC- Cap1) was caught holding payments in a drawer for a couple of days to get the late fees. It happens.

In the OP's case, there is no way to PROVE it.

[divemedic]

Originally Posted by vsjhoc

I read on another thread that the 30 days starts on the last date of the billing cycle, NOT the bill due date. Agree?

No, I would say that the day it is due starts that clock.

[breathing_easier]

Originally Posted by Methuss

Sorry breathing, I forgot to mention in my reply. The Verizon rep was 100% wrong. They cannot list a 30 day late unless it is actually 30 days late. Anything else is false reporting. I had that battle with Countrywide and they lost.

I agree. I debated with the Verizon rep but he wouldn't budge. I thought about writing my state's AG but then Verizon solved the problem by deleting the entire TL under their no reporting unless severely delinquent policy. In hindsight I should have alerted the AG anyway as to Verizon's definition of a 30-day late. I'm still with them, though...10 years and counting...as I have been happy with their service.

The rest had to do with filing a dispute with the OC. Yes the OC does have to respond to disputes from consumers; although the "validation" thing is just bad terminology. Credit card issuers must follow the FCBA which also means handling disputes regarding any billed item wether it be merchandise, service, fees or interest.

You're right...I should have pointed that out. The OP just needs to make sure to quote the FCBA and not the FDCPA.

[sr28b]

Originally Posted by divemedic

No, I would say that the day it is due starts that clock.

Section 2-2 of the Credit Reporting Resource Guide's “Industry Standard For Reporting Account Delinquency” confirms that.

[direred]

Originally Posted by vsjhoc

I read on another thread that the 30 days starts on the last date of the billing cycle, NOT the bill due date. Agree?

According to the CDIA (Consumer Data Industry Association), these are the reporting guidelines (page 6-3 of the 2004 Metro 2 book, called "Credit Reporting Resource Guide" as mentioned in above post):

10. Question: How are delinquencies calculated?

Answer: Delinquencies should be calculated from the due date. For consumer reporting purposes, an account is not deemed to be delinquent until it is at least 30 days (Account Status Code 71) past the due date.

That is the agreed-upon standard by the CRAs, the software vendors, and the industry association.

Also, as mentioned above, page 2-2 also covers it.

2-2 says (among other things): "The "clock" for a 30-day delinquency starts 30 days after the due date, as opposed to the billing date."

[TheLookingGlass]

This was resolved by Lowes calling me with an apology and clearing my account of any balance. I did not receive a letter to that effect.

[livnmywy]

way to go!

[NightOwl1969]

Fair Credit Billing Act:

§ 164. Prompt crediting of payments
“Payments received from an obligor under an open end
consumer credit plan by the creditor shall be posted promptly
to the obligor's account as specified in regulations of the Board.
Such regulations shall prevent a finance charge from being
imposed on any obligor if the creditor has received the
obligor's payment in readily identifiable form in the amount,
manner, location, and time indicated by the creditor to avoid
the imposition thereof.